


Five Times Vlad Defended Jack (And The One Time He Didn't)

by Only_In_December



Series: In Between Fudge and Needlepoint: A Jack Fenton AU [4]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: ...at least I think so anyway, ...until the +1, 5+1 Things, Because I think we have more than enough Anti-Jack fics, Chapter two ended up pretty sad, Chapter two isn't quite fluffy, Gen, Good friend Jack Fenton, Good friend Vlad Masters, Highkey I just want more people to make Jack Fenton fics, I'm Sorry, Jack's sister is the OC, Mainly in chapter two, Mentions of Character Death, OC death, Positive ones, Russian Vlad Masters, She only exists to be dead in this AU, Soft fluff for the first five parts, Vlad being a good friend, You're Welcome, good dad jack fenton, just warning you now, no beta we die like men, then pure unashamed pain in chapter six
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27322630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Only_In_December/pseuds/Only_In_December
Summary: In college, sometimes Jack got picked on. It happened, but he wasn't worried, he'd laugh it off. It used to happen all the time back home too. But when Vlad sees these things happen, he WILL NOT stand for it. No one picks on Vladimir Alexandrovich Masters' best friend and gets away with it. No one.(Except maybe someday, when best friends become estranged, and boiling hatred burns bright on one side, leaving the other to hope that it's only the glow of an old friendship. Then and only then will Vlad stop and let his friend feel the pain once more. And he may even twist that knife.)
Relationships: Jack Fenton & Vlad Masters, Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton
Series: In Between Fudge and Needlepoint: A Jack Fenton AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934956
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25





	1. Ghost Boy

**Author's Note:**

> ~~Jack Fenton deserves all the love. He was actually not a bad father. hot take.~~
> 
> Yeah. Just some Jack and Vlad friendship stuff. TBH the more I think about them as friends, the more sad I get about Vlad hating Jack.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Vlad head over to Jack's hometown for a few days, and Vlad bristles at how Jack's "Old School Buddies" treat him.

When Jack offered to bring Vlad to his hometown during Christmas Break, Vlad had been a little hesitant. But then plans to meet up with his own parents had fallen through, so he decided to go.

Jack pointed out all the little things in town, what they meant to him, things that happened there. It wasn’t a large town, but it was big enough. “Oh! Vladdie look! _This_ is where I first told Little Carol Biggins that I liked her. Third grade. She told me I had cooties, and demanded I leave her presence _immediately_...but it was still the first time I told anyone how I felt. That makes it special. Right?” Jack looked away from the little storefront he was looking so lovingly at, as if to make sure Vlad was really paying attention.

“Sure. I guess. I would have thought you’d’ve been _destroyed_ after she rejected you like that though.” Vlad was only half-interested in all of Jack’s little stories, but he did notice that anything even _marginally_ negative was seemingly turned into a fond memory.

“At the time?” Jack let out a sigh. “At the time I was absolutely devastated. I thought I’d never be happy again.” Jack paused to laugh. “But I was fine! I was in third grade. It wasn’t too long before I learned that there were worse things than being told you have cooties.” Jack looked at his feet. Vlad was about to ask what he meant by that, when a few other college age guys walked over.

“Ha! I _told_ ya it was the Ghost Boy!” One of them exclaimed, lightly punching his friend on the arm.

“Jerry! Kyle! Larry! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Jack smiled brightly at the other guys. Then he turned to Vlad, “Vlad these are my old highschool buddies!” Jack made a sweeping motion with his arm at the other guys. “Old highschool buddies, this is my roommate Vlad!”

“Hi, nice to meet you Vlad. Hope that the Ghost Boy’s been reppin’ the town _right_! Has he shown ya all the best spots yet?” One of them asked as he shook Vlad’s hand. All three of the other guys laughed.

“Come off it Kyle! We all know that the Ghost Boy was too busy with his _‘studies’_ to hang at the cool spots around town!” Another guy said through his laughter, giving Kyle a light punch on his arm. “Amirite Fenton?” All eyes turned to Jack.

“Guilty as charged!” Jack let out a weak chuckle, Vlad raised an eyebrow but remained silent. “I’ve been showing him some of the most memorable spots for me though.” The three others looked a little uncomfortable at that, but Vlad didn’t know why.

“He showed me where he broke his arm in fifth grade.” Vlad added, deadpan. A chuckle ran through the group.

“I remember that! Ghost Boy was _pale as a ghost_ for almost three weeks after that!” Kyle joked. All three of Jack’s old buddies laughed at that. Vlad looked over at Jack who looked more interested in the sidewalk than the past. For the first time that day, Jack was completely silent. Kyle seemed to notice too. “Come on Ghost Boy! It’s _funny_! Your roommate’s the one who brought it up anyways. Don’t tell me you can’t take a joke.”

“No, sorry! It _was_ pretty funny! Sorry about that, I was just thinking about all the things that happened that day is all.” Jack let out a weak chuckle.

“ _Yeah_ , Jennifer Lowely threw up.” One of the other two put in with a laugh. “Hey Ghost Boy, do you remember when Oakley Greenville turned you down for the junior high dance?”

“ _Yeah_. I was _there_ Jerry!” Jack responded with a laugh. “She also turned you down if I remember correctly.”

“Geez Ghost Boy! Have a little compassion! You know that was a rough day for Jerry.” Larry (Vlad was pretty sure that was the other guy’s name) spat back, putting an arm around Jerry.

  
  


After a couple more minutes reminiscing with Jack’s _‘buddies’_ , Vlad was getting seriously annoyed. “Hey Jack, didn’t you want to get to your parents before sundown?” He pointed to the lowering sun.

“Good eye V-Man! Thanks for reminding me. Sorry guys! Gotta go, catch ya later?”

“Yeah, _sure_ Ghost Boy.”

“Catch ya someday Ghost Boy.”

“‘Til next time G.B.” The three responded in near unison.

  
  


As soon as they were alone and walking across town, Vlad looked sideways at Jack. “Okay. What was up with that whole _‘Ghost Boy’_ thing Jackie?”

“Old nickname. ‘Cause I’m really interested in ghosts y’know?” Jack returned the look.

“You didn’t seem to like it all that much. _Plus_ , Jack. They were _really_ rude to you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Vladdie.” Jack looked at his feet as they walked.

“You’re not stupid Jack. I _know_ that _you_ know what I’m talking about. They were continuously bringing up embarrassing things for you. And rude things. And they called you rude, or mean anytime you did something even _slightly_ similar.” Vlad snarled, he hadn’t said anything at first. But he was already regretting that.

“That’s just how they joke around Vlad! There’s no reason to worry about it.” Jack shrugged it off, but Vlad was not about to let that be the end of it.

“Do you _like_ being called ‘Ghost Boy’?”

“Does it matter?”

“ _Yes_ Jack! Of _course_ it matters!” Vlad snapped.

“Not really. Some of the guys used that nickname in a kind of rude way. Y’know, like a mean nickname?” Jack admitted softly, stubbornly not looking in Vlad’s direction. Vlad had heard enough.

“Okay.” Vlad nudged Jack with his elbow and changed the subject. They walked the rest of the way to Jack’s parents talking about the differences between salted caramel, and salted fudge. (Which Jack _insisted_ was a real thing. “It’s delicious! How have you never had it before?”)

* * *

  
  
  


Vlad ran into Jack’s ‘buddies’ again a couple days later, while he was out getting some milk for the Fentons. “Oh, hey! Ghost Boy’s roommate...Vlad right?” Jerry was the one to greet him first, followed by a small chorus of greetings from the other two.

“Hi. It’s actually a good thing I ran into you guys.” Vlad smirked, he had been waiting for this. “I need you to leave Jack alone.”  
“ _What_?”  
“Just what I said. I want you to stop picking on Jack. This isn’t highschool anymore, you don’t need to keep on _bullying_ him like that. He won’t say anything himself, but you really annoy him.” Vlad purposely said ‘annoy’ rather than ‘bother’.

“We aren’t _‘bullying’_ him! We only tease him. You don’t know him like we do.” Kyle defended. “Don’t think that just because you share a room with him that you know him better than us.” His tone dropped dangerously.

“Leave him alone. Я не хочу, чтобы здесь кто-нибудь пострадал” Vlad matched Kyle’s tone, and took a step forward so they were almost nose to nose.

“Or what?” Kyle didn’t seem to notice the Russian threat.

“Or I’ll be forced to remind you why Russians are considered a threat in this country.” Vlad raised an eyebrow and twitched his fingers. Larry laughed.

“Oh please! There’s no way you’re KGB.” Larry pushed his way between the two.

“How do you know? Насколько вам известно, я могу убить вас одним пальцем.” Vlad growled at them. The three college students looked at each other nervously.

“No way the KGB recruits so young.” Jerry put in, although his voice was shaking slightly.

“They recruit as young as they need to.” Vlad put on an accent, not too thick, but noticeable. “Sometimes, it’s easier to get them in the country if they’re younger.” Vlad dropped his tone even more, so he was barely even whispering. Now all three other boys looked scared. “Leave. Jack Fenton. Alone.”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Jack and Vlad went back to school a few short days after that. Vlad made a mental note to take Jack to his hometown next Christmas Break. Jack seemed to have noticed the difference in his treatment from the three bullies.

“Did you do something to Kyle, Jerry, and Larry?” He asked as they were getting unpacked in their dorm.

“No, I didn’t do anything. Why?” Vlad lied smoothly.

“I dunno, they just seemed really uneasy around you when we ran into them before we left. Weird huh?” Jack turned to look at his roommate, puzzled.

“Yeah. Weird.” Vlad smirked as he kept unpacking his laundry. That was all that he would say on that subject.

They changed the subject again, and talked (argued) the rest of the day about which was better, Sci-fi or Fantasy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I know the KGB threats were a little OOC for Vlad...I just thought it would be interesting. He's Russian. It was the eighties. KGB was seemingly everywhere! *insert shrug here* I liked the idea anyways.
> 
> Russian Translations:
> 
> "Я не хочу, чтобы здесь кто-нибудь пострадал" ====== "I don't want anyone to get hurt here"
> 
> "Насколько вам известно, я могу убить вас одним пальцем" ====== "For all you know, I could be able to kill you with one finger."


	2. Sara's Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Did Jonathon ever tell you what happened?"  
> "No. But it isn't my place."
> 
> Vlad never needed to know what happened to Jack's sister. But once he does, he can't let one small detail go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk of character death in this chapter. Like A LOT of talk about character death. I don't know if that should be marked as a TW, but Jack also blames himself for a lot of it.
> 
> Jack's parents are older. He was a surprise baby, his sister was nine when he was born. And they had _her_ when they were a little older then people might have expected.

The first time Vlad heard about Sara, Jack had a cold. After that, he picked up little things here and there from Jack about his sister. But there was one thing Jack would _never_ bring up, her death. Vlad knew she was dead, but Jack avoided the situation _surrounding_ her death like it was the plague. Vlad didn't care too much about that, it _wasn't_ his business after all.

One day, when visiting Jack's hometown though, he learned _all_ about that day.

"Jonathon always loved ice cream." Mrs. Fenton was telling Vlad, the statement itself was harmless, but Vlad was still confused by it.

"Jack hates ice cream."

"Oh. I forgot about that. Yes I suppose after Sara’s accident he _did_ lose his taste for it. My bad." The older woman gave a small chuckle. Then she sighed. "Did he ever tell you what happened?" Vlad was thrown off by the question.

"No. But it isn't my place." Vlad tried to think of a way to back up, change the subject. _Something._

"She was nine when he was born." That was an unexpected tangent.

"Oh?"

"Yes, she _adored_ her baby brother. She would sing to him all the time, talk to him. That never changed. She always loved him so much. He loved her just as much. They would sing that song 'Danny Boy' to each other all the time. She changed it to 'Jackie Boy' He changed it to…" She trailed off. "I don't remember anymore, but it was sweet."

"That sounds really nice Mrs. Fenton." Vlad said, picking up an old picture of Jack, he tried again to change the subject. "What's this picture?" She looked over at the photograph, and smiled sadly.

"That's from about a month before the accident." Vlad looked at the happy little boy, and couldn't help wondering what happened.

"They were going out for ice cream." She started again, seeming to read his mind. "He _ran into the street_ , he was just so excited I suppose. He didn't see the car, she pushed him away-" Her voice broke.

"She pushed him out of the way, and then she died?" It wasn't really a question, but Vlad asked anyways. Jack's mother nodded, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"Jeb and I arrived not too long after. They hadn't even cleaned up the street yet. Jonathon _wouldn't_ _stop_ _crying_." She shook her head. "I need to go start supper. I'll be in the kitchen if you boys need me." Vlad watched wide-eyed as she left the room.

He wasn't sure why, but he got the feeling that something about that story was slightly altered, something was left out maybe? So he went looking for Jack.

Instead he found Jack's father. "Oh, Mr. Fenton! I was just looking for Jack."

"He's out getting milk. Is there anything I can help you with Vladimir?" The man didn't even look up from his evening paper.

"I was just going to ask him about Sara." Vlad blurted without thinking. Crap. He hasn't meant to bring that up with _both_ of Jack's parents! Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?

"My little girl." The man put down his paper, and looked up with a slight smile. "Only seventeen when it happened. _Jonathon_ ran into the road. She pushed him out of the way of an oncoming car." The older man looked sadly over at Vlad. "Is that what you were going to ask him about Vladimir?" Vlad felt a little guilty as he nodded. "That's what I thought." Mr. Fenton gave a firm nod, then went back to his paper. Efficiently ending the conversation

* * *

Vlad went to the guest room, and sat on his bed. They blamed Jack. Maybe not overtly, they didn't say it was his fault, but the way they both told the story, both of Jack's parents seemed (to Vlad at least) to resent their son's actions. How could they blame a child? Vlad shook his head, he was reading too much into things again. No way Jack's parents blamed him for the accident. No, Vlad was looking too deep at it. That was all.

"Don't think too hard, we're on break! Thinking's for school." Vlad jumped at Jack's sudden voice from the doorway. " _Whoa_ V-Man! It's just me." Jack laughed, inviting himself into the small guest bedroom.

"Sorry Jack. I was just _distracted_. Your parents told me about what happened to your sister." Vlad smacked himself mentally. He really needed to learn how to filter himself, he _was_ going to try to find a more tactful way to bring that up. But _no_. Instead he just blurted it out! Why not?

"Oh. That. I told you it wasn't a pretty story." Actually he hadn't, but neither one was willing to point that out. Jack sat down on the bed beside Vlad.

"Your mom said the two of you were going for ice cream." Vlad said softly.

"Yeah." Jack smiled sadly. "She was taking me for ice cream, 'cause I aced my spelling test." Jack sighed heavily, and smacked his knees. "But it didn't end with ice cream. And here we are now. Sometimes we get a sad ending, before we get the happy one." Jack stood up and gave a small stretch. "Ma says that dinner's about ready, you can come on down in about ten minutes." Jack said, giving Vlad a wink. Vlad was a little shocked by the attitude that Jack responded with. He was obviously deflecting. Ignoring the topic. Vlad let out a sigh.

Vlad could see it in Jack's eyes. He blamed himself, whether his parents did or not. Jack blamed himself for Sara’s death. Vlad didn't like that. But he could see it in his roommate's eyes, the self-blame. Vlad was beginning to wonder if that was transferring over to Jack's parents at all. Were they staying to blame him because he blamed himself?

Vlad couldn't stop thinking about it.

He decided to ask Jack about it, but how do you gently ask your close friend if he blamed himself for the death of his older sister so many years ago? The simple answer? You don't. But this was going to gnaw at Vlad until he knew for sure.

"It's not Jack's fault." Vlad whispered to himself that night. He wanted to tell that to the entire Fenton household. To explain that Jack _couldn't_ have done anything, he was just a little kid at the time! But he _knew_ that there was no way to say that ten years after the fact, when you had nothing to do with it in the first place. There was _no way_ to say that, and still be listened to. But maybe, if he played it right, he could get through to Jack.

* * *

Vlad waited until Jack's parents were out of the house for the day. Then he waited until they weren't talking about anything. He hated breaking the silence, but he _needed_ to know at this point. "Jack, do you blame _yourself_ for what happened to your sister?" Jack stiffened at the question, but otherwise didn't react at all at first.

"She was hit by a car." Jack said eventually.

"I know that. I'm asking if you blame yourself." Vlad’s heart started pounding hard in his chest. ~~_(Maybe this was a bad idea. He should've left it alone. It would've been better if he didn't say anything.)_~~

"I ran into the road Vlad. If I had stayed on the sidewalk-" Jack started, his voice sounding hollow.

"Don't you _dare_ even _think_ of finishing that sentence Jack. _You were eight_. You were _excited_ about your spelling test. You were a _kid_." Vlad cut him off harshly, he didn't mean to snap, but he was _not_ going to take this from him. It was one thing _suspecting_ that Jack blamed himself. It was another _hearing_ it from his own mouth. "I'm not saying it wasn't stupid, I'm saying it was understandable." Vlad ran a hand through his black hair. "If she didn't push you out of the way Jack…" Vlad let himself trail off, paling slightly at the thought of what could've happened.

"I know Vladdie. I could've died instead." Jack's voice was still hollow. Vlad’s stomach dropped, he didn't want to think about what Jack was saying.

"Jack. You can't be serious." Vlad couldn't manage to speak above a whisper. Jack let out a small harsh laugh, avoiding Vlad's eyes.

"I just wonder sometimes Vlad, that's all. What would she have been like? If she didn't die? Y'know?" Jack let out a harsh huff-like sigh. "It was almost _ten years ago,_ and I still miss her. So much." He whispered. Vlad looked at him sadly.

"For whatever is worth, I really don't think that it was your fault at all Jack."

"Thanks for that Vladdie. But I don't think I'm ready to really believe that yet."


	3. Are We Really Friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vlad knew all about how insecure Jack could be, but he wasn't prepared for the question Jack just asked. "Are we really friends?"
> 
> These bois, have some insecurities. And they remind each other their good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't my absolute favorite chapter, but I'm still pleased with how it came out. (I'm especially pleased with the end of this chapter) ;)

Vlad knew a lot about Jack. More than he _wanted_ to in some ways. Needless to say, he knew almost everything about him. Some things like say; insecurities, were somehow easily forgotten. So Vlad was caught completely and totally off guard, when Jack softly asked “are we really friends?”

“What?” Vlad jumped and looked up from the paper he was working on. He had almost forgotten that Jack was even there.

“Are we really _friends?”_ Jack didn’t look at Vlad, much more interested in his palms. “It’s just that, _y’know_...I can be a bit much. I don’t wanna be _forcing_ you into things like that.” Jack’s head popped up to look Vlad in the face.

“ _Jack._ I...I mean, yeah you _can_ come on a bit strong.” Vlad started, then hurried to finish when he saw Jack’s face. “But that doesn’t _mean_ anything. I hang with you because I want to. I like you Jack. You’re one of the most honest and smart people I’ve ever met. I would let you know if I didn’t like you.” Vlad smiled at Jack. He couldn’t imagine what it would even be like to _not_ like Jack. “Trust me. I wouldn’t leave you wondering if I liked you or not.”

“Yeah. Okay. Thanks Vladdie.” Jack gave a small smile, Vlad wasn’t completely satisfied with that though. He knew too much about Jack to let this slide.

“Where is this all coming from Jackie? Are you okay? Are people messing with you again?” Vlad turned himself all the way around so he was facing Jack completely. Jack looked away, suddenly uncomfortable.

"I'm fine Vlad. It's nothing."

"Jack. Come on. What's bothering you?" Vlad leaned forward, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Really Vlad. It’s nothing.” Jack gave a small chuckle. “Just my own insecurities.”

“You sure? I can talk to some people if I need to.”

“Seriously V-Man. I can take care of myself. I just need reassurance sometimes, that’s all.” Jack gave Vlad a bright smile _~~(too bright. Too bright to be real)~~_ and said his goodnites.

* * *

A few days later, and Vlad wasn’t sure that he completely _believed_ Jack. He also wasn’t sure that he _didn’t_ believe Jack. He paced the dorm and tried his _best_ to decide if he would _need_ to intervene at all. Jack didn’t usually lie about these types of things, nine times out of ten Jack would tell Vlad if something or someone was bothering him. Jack _was_ right though, he _could_ take care of himself. Vlad _really_ shouldn’t worry too much. Jack was a grown man. “I’m looking at this too deeply. Jack has insecurities. I do too. It’s perfectly normal!” Vlad ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed. “Perfectly normal. _Почему я так остро реагирую на эти вещи?!_ ”

Jack walked into the dorm. “Vladdie? You okay? You’re muttering in Russian again, should I be worried?”

“When you asked if we were friends. Were you _lying_? Did someone put that idea _into_ your head? Have people been putting you down _again_?” Vlad started pacing again. “I just _can’t stand_ the idea that someone would ever make you feel that you needed to ask me that.”

“Oh, Vlad. _No one_ said any of that to me. I did that myself.” Jack huffed out a sigh, and flopped onto his bed. “After all, who would like a Fenton?” A small chuckle escaped the larger boy’s mouth. “Willingly anyways. There are tons of people who like Fentons out of _obligation.”_

“I’m gonna have to fight you. You _can’t_ go talking about _my best friend_ like that.” Vlad stood next to Jack’s bed and looked at him disapprovingly. “You are a _great_ guy. Your _parents_ are _great_. Your _grandparents_ weren’t too shabby either when I met them that one time. So _stop_ selling yourself short. Or I _will_ fight you.”

“Somehow.” Jack sat up. “Somehow, that _actually_ made me feel better. Thanks V-Man.” A small smile passed between the two.

“I’m serious though Jack. If you ever start thinking like that again, tell me. I’ll set you straight.” Vlad offered his hand to his roommate. “Let’s go get lunch.”

  
  
  


After lunch, the two sat on a park bench looking out at a pond on campus. “Vlad, thanks. These past few days have been a little rough for me. So it really means something, that you’re really... _aggressively_ , nice.” Jack flashed Vlad a thousand watt smile.

“No problem Jack. That’s what I’m here for. Friends support friends... _aggressively_.” Vlad returned the smile in full. “I know what it’s like to get picked on just for who your family is. Sometimes it’s difficult to just think that someone really does like you. And your family. Despite any preconceived notions of what they must be like.” Vlad spoke quietly, he didn’t want to unload everything onto Jack right now. But he needed to make sure that Jack understood that he knew what he was going through.

“For what it’s worth Vlad, I never cared that you were Russian. I know some people are still paranoid about that stuff, but I never was.” Jack shoulder-bumped Vlad gently. “And ‘sides, this just means we’re social outcasts together, right?”

“I guess it does.” Vlad laughed. They sat in silence for a while after that, just enjoying each other’s company. The silence was sacred in those few minutes. 

Vlad’s mind ran a hundred miles an hour, going over everything that they had been talking about, from Jack’s apparent self-image and self-esteem issues, to the fact that Jack really didn’t care about Vlad’s own heritage.

  
Jack’s mind, on the other hand, ran through _every_ _word_ that was said. _Every move, every pause for breath._ Hoping that _nothing_ he _said_ , or _did_ , would have given Vlad _any_ wrong impressions. He wanted to be _sure_ that his best friend knew he would _never_ say, or _do_ anything to intentionally hurt him. _Ever._

* * *

It wasn’t until a few months later, when Maddie joined their little group, that they even noticed that their friendship was... _different_. “You two are like... _really_ aggressively _supportive_ of each other. You know that _right_ ? I have _never_ seen someone threaten to _beat someone else up,_ for saying something like ‘man. I’m an _idiot_ sometimes.’ But you guys? You _really_ take that stuff _seriously_.” She pointed it out while the three sat in the boy’s dorm eating potato chips, and discussing ghosts.

“Well, _yeah_. We’re _best friends._ If _we_ don’t defend each other, _who will?”_ Jack said, opening a can of diet cola.

“Ooh! Pass me a soda too Jackie.” Vlad reached over for a can of cola. “ _Really_ though Maddie, the two of us have an _understanding_. The _best_ way to remind each other that we’re _not_ worthless trash, is to be _overly-aggressive_ about it.” Vlad gave the young woman a half-hearted shrug.

“You two have issues.” Maddie stated as she reached for her own can of diet cola.

“Yep.”

“Most probably.” The two gave mirrored shrugs, and spoke in near-unison.

The three of them got back to trying to figure out if there was any plausible way to make a wormhole to the Ghost Dimension. Conversation slightly stilted, aside from the actual work they were doing. They didn’t bring up Jack and Vlad’s slightly odd friendship style after that. 

~~_(Eventually, years down the line, the aggressive love got lost in plenty of good old memories. Neither one quite able to place why they had to suppress the urge to angrily scold the other for being self-depricating.)_ ~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian Translations:  
> Почему я все время остро реагирую на эти вещи?!---"Why do I keep overreacting to these things?!"
> 
> I made mahself so sad. Everytime I mentioned Vlad being angry at the thought of anyone hating on Jack, I died a little inside. But like, I _had_ to. Also, I have _no_ clue if being aggressively nice was normal for friends in the 80s. I was literally making that being odd up, solely because those two are kinda supposed to be the weird kids...(I'm gonna stop overexplaining now...sorry.)


End file.
